IBM signed a five year deal with the US Army

IBM signed a five year deal with the US Army to build and manage a private cloud data center, the company announced on Wednesday. The deal, worth $62 million, will see the data center placed at the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. The project will require Defense Information Systems Agency Impact Level 5 Provisional Authorization, based on a news release.

IBM initially received the authorization on a conditional basis back in Feb 2016, so it can start providing cloud services at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory data center in West Virginia. The condition was removed later that year in September. SEE: How IBM’s cloud and cognitive computing tools help deliver personalized client experiences.The current authorization at IL-5 allows IBM the Authority to manage controlled, unclassified info, the release said. The announcement is a Part of the Private Cloud Enterprise program of the Army and the Army Private Cloud 2 contract. At the top of building out the data center, IBM will also provide cloud IaaS services to the Army, and the Army will begin migrating applications To the private cloud for the goal of moving 35 applications in the 1st year, the release said. Robert Ferrell, the US Army CIO, said in a statement. Cloud computing is a game changing architecture that delivers enhanced performance with high efficiency, all in a secure environment. This is not the first cloud project that IBM has worked on with the army, while the two partnered on a hybrid cloud solution for the Army’s Logistics Support Activity in the past. IBM is the first and only private sector company with which the Army has contracted to run a large scale data center on its behalf and inside the gate of a military facility, the release said. With the growth of cloud in compliant industries, it is sensible that IBM is attempting to position itself as a secure provider for the public sector. IBM also offers FedRAMP and FISMA compliant infrastructure solutions as well.